Narcissistic Identification in Rap Music
Rachel Frymire
Steve Neale’s article “ Masculinity as Spectacle” puts forward two main themes of masculinity in film from a psychoanalytic perspective. He focuses on the topics of identification and voyeuristic spectating. Identification as quoted by Neale “involves both the recognition of self in the image on the screen, a narcissistic identification and the identification of self with the various positions that are involved in the fictional narration.” Neale’s belief is that men not only look to the main male character to identify with , but also other characters including the villain, the love interest, the father etc.
“Narcissism and narcissistic identification both involve phantasies of power, omnipotence, mastery and control.” I looked up the term omnipotence to understand this statement a little bit better. Omnipotence refers to having unlimited or god like power. Immediately my mind was drawn to music and how I’ve seen this theme play out time and time again in predominately rap music. Music is a main form of socialization and feeds humans socially constructed definitions of ideal male characteristics. Mainstream pop/rap artists such as Kanye West, Jay Z and Asap Rocky sport lyrics that boast about their godly status, and having the most or the best of everything ie. money, women, cars, drugs. I searched through Kanye West’s albums and numerous song titles refer to power and control. Here are a few examples:
– Stronger
– Can’t Tell Me Nothing
– Power
– Gotta’ Have it
-Who Gon stop me
-Illest MotherF*cker Alive
-I am A god
-I Love Kanye
Are these narcissistic and power hungry lyrics affecting how young men view themselves and what they’re entitled to?
Here are a few other articles of relevance to this subject…
https://gendersociety.wordpress.com/2017/03/09/masculinity-and-fidelity-in-pop-music/
References:
Steve Neale; Masculinity as Spectacle, Screen, Volume 24, Issue 6, 1 November 1983, Pages 2–17 , https://doi.org/10.1093/screen/24.6.2